Even with some of the great off-the-wall ideas you see on display in many community levels, there’s only so much one can do with, say, a hookshot before you start seeing repetition of ideas. For example, there are technically only five items-four if we’re not counting the shield as an item-and this severely limits how varied the dungeons can be on a mechanical level. Where this ‘early access’ designation is felt most strongly is probably in the design elements themselves, or rather the lack of them. Literally the first thing you see every time you boot it up is a disclaimer message that warns you that the game is still in development and is considered a “preview” while encouraging you to share feedback and bug reports with the team. To be fair, it can be quite thrilling to be pleasantly surprised by a level you decided to give a chance, but it can be equally disappointing when a promising one turns out to be a dud.Īnd we’re certain that there will be patches, because Super Dungeon Maker simply doesn’t feel complete yet. There are some ways to mitigate this, of course, such as being able to search by specific users known for their quality or by filtering using tags such as “Linear” and “Pacifistic”, but you ultimately have no idea what you’re getting into until you’ve already given a level a shot. And while you’re sure to find plenty of levels that have actually had some thought and effort put into them, it can sometimes feel like you have to sift through a lot of trash before you find the gems. It goes without saying that your mileage may vary here, as there’s no real way of determining the quality of a level aside from the number of likes it’s gotten so far. Then there are the dungeons that just exist to troll you we played quite a few that were little more than being constantly ganked by enemies and lasers every time we set foot in a new room. ![]() ![]() Others try something different, such as a dungeon we played where you ‘golf’ on a nine-hole course by pushing an ice block or another that had us ‘race’ a series of blocks triggered by automatic switches. Some levels play it straight and try their best to match Zelda’s legendary dungeon design, to the point that we tried out one dungeon that was a lovingly adapted version of Tail Cave from Link’s Awakening. The bulk of your time with Super Dungeon Maker will likely be spent sampling the seemingly endless community-crafted dungeons, which offer quite a fascinating range of experiences. How many of those levels will be worth playing is entirely something you’ll have to decide for yourself. While it feels like a missed opportunity that Firechick mostly passed on giving us some kind of little campaign to anchor the experience more, it’s hard to complain about a lack of content given that there are far more levels than you’ll ever have time to play. The vast majority of your time will be spent either playing and scoring levels uploaded by other users to the global community, or picking up the tools yourself and building dungeons to then share with everyone else. Using these, you navigate dungeons, solve puzzles, and kill baddies, all in the quest to find the golden egg at the end of each dungeon.Īside from a few brief introductory dungeons to give you an idea of what’s possible with the mechanics, there isn’t any sort of story-driven, single-player adventure to sink your teeth into here. Instead of playing as Link, you play as a chicken named Fink who has the same basic sword and shield alongside a small arsenal of tools like a hookshot or bombs. This is a game that apes the gameplay of the Game Boy and SNES Zelda games as closely as possible, right down to that annoying worm boss that spins in circles in a cramped room. Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)įirst, a brief overview. Now that it’s come to Switch, we can report that it’s a decent foundation, though it feels unfinished at launch and there’s clear room for improvement here. Spotting an opportunity to capitalize on the potential of this idea, an indie team called Firechick launched and successfully funded a Kickstarter late last year for a legally distinct top-down Zelda-style dungeon builder called Super Dungeon Maker. ![]() This was allegedly discussed at greater length behind the scenes and eventually led to the addition of the Chamber Dungeons concept in the Link’s Awakening Switch remake, but there seemingly wasn’t enough will or interest to see it through to a fuller product, as we haven’t seen anything come to fruition yet. Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Įver since Nintendo gave players the tools to develop their own levels with Super Mario Maker, there’s been talk about the Big N expanding the concept to other franchises, especially Zelda.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |